Intelligence and Testing Overview

A collection of vocabulary and key concepts relating to intelligence and testing, useful for exam preparation.

What is Intelligence?

Intelligence is a number of distinct processes or abilities assessed by separate tests.

Francis Galton's Definition

Intelligent persons are those with the best sensory abilities; more perceptive senses allow for better judgment.

Alfred Binet's Contribution

First to publish on the heritability of intelligence and developed tests for assessing intellectual abilities.

Components of Intelligence

Includes reasoning, judgment, memory, and abstraction.

David Wechsler's View

Defined intelligence as the aggregate capacity to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment.

Non-intellective Factors

Capabilities which include conative, affective, or personality traits like drive and persistence.

Differentiable Abilities

Verbal factor and performance factor identified in measuring aspects of intelligence.

Jean Piaget's Perspective

Intelligence evolves as a biological adaptation, enhanced through cognitive skills gained from learning.

Interactionism in Intelligence

The interaction between heredity and environment which influences one's intelligence development.

Louis L. Thurstone's Theory

Intelligence consists of primary mental abilities such as verbal meaning, reasoning, and memory.

Spearman's Two-Factor Theory

Proposes a general intelligence factor (g) common across all intelligence tests.

General Intelligence Factor (g)

Represents the variance shared by all intelligence tests.

Specific Component (s)

Refers to abilities unique to individual intellectual activities.

Horn & Cattell's Intelligence Types

Divided into crystallized intelligence (Gc) and fluid intelligence (Gf).

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)

Involves knowledge and skills acquired through culture and education.

Fluid Intelligence (Gf)

Nonverbal and culture-free problem-solving skills.

Three-Stratum Theory

Carroll's model of intelligence with g at the top, followed by broad abilities.

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Model

Combines Cattell-Horn theory with Carroll's Three-stratum theory.

E.L. Thorndike's Intelligence Types

Suggests three clusters of intelligence: social, concrete, and abstract.

Information-Processing View

Focuses on the methods of how information is processed in the brain.

Simultaneous Processing

Information is integrated at once and as a whole.

Successive Processing

Information is processed individually in sequence.

PASS Model

Describes four types of information processing: Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive.

Tasks to Measure Intelligence

Measure performance through different tests based on developmental level.

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

First intelligence test to incorporate organized administration and scoring instructions.

Ratio IQ

Ratio of mental age to chronological age, multiplied by 100.

Deviation IQ

Scores based on a person's performance relative to others of the same age.

Psychometric Properties

Concerns reliability and validity of the test scores.

SB-5 Subtests

Includes Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Reasoning, and more.

Reliability

Refers to the consistency of test scores across various parameters.

Validity

Refers to the degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure.

General Ability Index (GAI)

Composite score derived from two indexes: Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning.

Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI)

Composite score of Working Memory and Processing Speed.

Short Form Intelligence Tests

Abbreviated tests to reduce administration time that still provide insightful results.

Army Alpha Test

Used to assess the intelligence of recruits who could read.

Army Beta Test

Administered to illiterates and foreign-born recruits, focusing on non-verbal tasks.

Culture-Free Intelligence Test

Assumes elimination of cultural biases in measuring intelligence.

Flynn Effect

Increase in intelligence test scores over time, reflecting intelligence inflation.

Assessment of Intelligence

Involves measuring abilities through tasks and tests reflecting diverse skills.

Test Administration Process

Includes establishing rapport, selecting routing tests, and observing examinee behavior.

Cognitive Style Dimensions

Field dependence vs independence; reflection vs impulsivity; visualizer vs verbalizer.

Divergent Thinking

Thinking process that generates multiple solutions to a problem.

Convergent Thinking

Thought process leading to a single solution based on logical reasoning.

Guilford's Structure-of-Intellect Model

Breaks down intelligence into specific types and reasoning processes.

Cultural Loading in Tests

Extent to which a test incorporates cultural-specific elements.

Culture-Fair Tests

Evaluate intelligence while minimizing cultural influence.

Behavioral Observation in Testing

Extra-test behaviors provide context and insight beyond formal scores.

Wechsler Tests

Includes subtests measuring verbal and performance abilities.

WAIS-IV Components

Contains core and supplemental subtests for comprehensive assessment.